lilly pilly blue: January 2012

Saturday 28 January 2012

This Moment

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember. Inspired by soulemama at www.soulemama.com

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Thursday 26 January 2012

This is the life - or is it?

It's been a while since my last post. I seem to have lost my blogging mojo of late. Perhaps it's due to the pace that summer harvest has reached in our garden. That, combined with sewing last minute pirate costumes for birthday parties, and trips to Melbourne to see family. I was thinking that perhaps the blog is all too much and I don't need to put any more pressure on myself to make sure I am posting regularly. So we shall see. I do like to write about our life on the farm and our journey towards the 'holy grail' of self-sufficiency. I do enjoy being part of the blogging community and find inspiration in reading blogs written by others. Perhaps I am a better reader than writer? But when things are so busy here, sometimes the life we have chosen seems all too much - like when a sheep dies, or the garden looks more like a jungle than a productive veggie patch, when the chickens dig up our favourite strawberries and those gorgeous rosella's get more of our fruit harvest than we do. This is when I find myself wondering, is it all too hard? Should we live closer to the city? Find a smaller block? Not have the gut wrenching decisions that go with livestock welfare? I'm still not sure, but for now, in these last few days, it's seemed a little easier, more relaxed and worth the effort. So for your interest and viewing, here are some photo's of our garden haul today - and of course Ava in the pirate outfit!

Friday 20 January 2012

This Moment

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Friday 13 January 2012

This Moment

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Wednesday 11 January 2012

From the Holidays

It's a wintery, wild and windy day here today. Ava and I have been inside cooking for most of the day, making jam, granola and raspberry cordial. And while I enjoy the cosiness of being indoors and making cubbies in the living room with my girl, it's left me wondering where summer has gone! So, as I need some reminding of the beach holiday we had just last week, I'm posting a few more photo's from our trip to Tasmania (and a few of the presents we made) where it was sunny and warm....enjoy.

Rocky Road for the lovely ladies at Ava's kinder

Testing out the lens on my new camera!

making rocky road

At the beach with grandma

Homemade lavender shortbread for friends at work. It went down a very well, thankfully!

Another beautiful sunset..

Monday 9 January 2012

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! I have been told that 2012 is going to be good year as twelve is an auspicious number!! We have just returned from a restful holiday with family in Tasmania to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. It was the first time the family has been all together for many years, so it was pretty special. We had a lovely Christmas and Ava was so excited about it, especially as she was able to spend some time with her little cousins who she is very close to. Father Christmas came and brought Ava a few things - of particular note - a princess nightie and pajama set. She now refuses to wear anything else to bed!

We also spent a week down at mum's beach house by the sea (literally). Most of these photos are taken from the front deck. It was just so good to be by sea in the salty air. It makes you slow down and take things at a more relaxed pace. Our days at the beach were spent swimming, kayaking, walking and paddling in the rock pools. There were many spectacular sunsets and the weather was just perfect. It was a really peaceful holiday.

It's good to be home now. The garden has flourished whilst we have been away (and so has the lawn!) and the animals have grown, especially the lambs and chooks. The garden bounty now requires preserving - plums for jam, zucchini's for pickles and the tomatoes have been steadily ripening. It feels good to be back into it, preparing for the leaner months, filling the cupboards with jars of our summer harvest that can been enjoyed when winter sets in.

Christmas was a time to reflect and pause upon the year past. We feel renewed and happy to be back on the farm, ready for another year of healthy living in tune with the seasons.